The Need To Act If Your Business Has An Unhappy Workforce

Does your workplace suffer from members of staff with low morale and high absenteeism levels? Chances are, your firm will also be suffering from high staff turnover rates, reduced operational efficiencies and a loss of profits. The cost of these problems will be heightened even further if a business needs to pay for further training or must invest in recruitment processes.

To understand just how costly a workforce filled with unhappy employees can be to a business, check out this eye-opening article from Chill Factore, which provides fun-filled yet inclusive team-building activities alongside their Santa’s Grotto in Manchester:

How unhappy employees are proving costly to UK businesses

Employees will be less productive if they feel dejected in their jobs, according to studies. Considering that satisfied employees outperform companies with unhappy workers by 202%, it’s clearly beneficial for a company to take notice of the happiness of its staff.

Not sure just how much your business’ profit margin is being affected by unhappy members of staff? Personal Group, a staff services company, discovered that people who were happy with their job were 12% more productive than those who felt negatively about their role. Staff that aren’t satisfied will typically be less enthusiastic and involved — and this disengagement is reportedly costing the UK £85 billion a year in lost productivity, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce report.

When staff members are under the belief that their working hours are either long or poorly organised, they can also develop negative feelings. Their emotional wellbeing can be badly affected as well. This in turn affects workplace performance. A poll carried out by The Hoxby Collective found that 33% of workers said they’d suffered mental health problems directly because of rigid working hours. If your staff are unfit for work, this will cost you. According to estimations by The Centre of Economic and Business Research, absenteeism alone will cost the UK economy £21 billion by 2020, while overworking your staff can also lead to exhaustion and lack of sleep — another contributor of poor productivity levels that costs the UK economy £40.3 billion a year. Consequently, it’s key to create a positive working environment that staff want to get up in the morning and work in if companies want to keep paid sick days to a minimum.

There have also been links developed between employees showing signs of anxiety and depression, and their morale at work being low. According to research from the Centre for Mental Health, it costs employers £3.1 billion in staff turnover and £10.6 billion in sickness just to cover mental health problems of staff in the workplace. From implementing staff perks and bonuses to creating a happy, communicative atmosphere; all employers should be investing in lowering the risk of mental health issues for their staff.

When members of staff are unhappy in their current roles, they may also be inclined to look for employment at a different company. The Oxford Economics and Income Protection Providers Unum has calculated that the average amount of replacing a staff member sits at approximately £30,614 — taking into account hiring, lost time, training, and adapting new staff to the workplace culture. Can your business afford to keep covering or taking on new staff?

As the research above showcases, employers should be doing everything they can to keep staff morale high throughout a business. Fortunately, there are many initiatives employers can enforce to boost employee happiness.

Ways to boost staff morale and keep it high

Almost half of the 2,000 participants who was involved in Investors in People’s survey undertaken earlier in 2018 said that they were looking to leave their current job sometime in the next year as a result of poor management. Meanwhile, 39% stated that it was because of feeling undervalued and 30% claimed the reason was lack of job development opportunities. Are these factors that you can explore as part of a business strategy to improve staff morale?

When staff members choose to leave a firm to seek employment elsewhere, it appears that management plays a key role in the decision. Considering the cost of replacing staff, this is something you’ll want to reduce. Assess how your supervisors and managers treat and interact with their staff — could they do with having stronger relationships to encourage better communication? If so, consider scheduling a series of corporate team-building activities to help boost collaboration across all of your departments, or organise onsite charity fundraisers, staff quizzes or regular nights out to inject a sociable aspect into the corporate environment.

Training and development can both help to increase morale in staff. These can be provided either in-house or through external training courses. Sending your staff on these will not only make them feel valued — another factor of workplace happiness — but should also mean your company will benefit from more knowledgeable and confident business decisions, which should prove lucrative in the long run.

Seek out improvements in job quality to enhance the wellbeing of employees too. This is according to a report created for Britain’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). For instance, give your employees more authority over their working day — from how long it takes to complete a task properly, to how they schedule their day. This level of control and variety will help make workers feel more important and excited for the day ahead, while re-evaluating the time it takes to complete a task will lower the risk of them feeling rushed or stressed, thereby reducing the chance that they will take time off for anxiety-related issues.

You may have noticed that sick days are costing your company quite considerably as well. If so, it may be worth trying to implement a strategy that focuses on improving the health of employees as well. The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence claims that a well-researched and managed wellness plan can reduce sick days by almost a third — which means the expense of covering shifts and reduced productivity levels will go down accordingly, too.

Hopefully you’ll witness staff who feel happy, secure and valued at work by taking the above advice on board. Be sure to implement positive processes across your businesses and show initiative too.